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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Faux Lightning

Earlier I had commented on an RV incident that we are still recovering from. When you ZAP the electrical system with 240 Volts, double what is intended, it kind of seems like lightning!

I have had an electrician doing some work around the house. He had finished one of the projects, a new 30 Amp connection to the house circuit so I could run the RV kind of like a cottage for guests. Well, this fellow is hard working, honest and does good work. One problem, he put a wire in the wrong place. I went into the RV after plugging in. The microwave was lit, but no lights. As soon as I hit the light switch, POW, the microwave blew. I also had smoke coming out of the area of the circuit breakers. As I sat there monitoring for any fire or other issues, I thought...this could get expensive. A/C, Frig, heater, new TVs, etc. He was thinking 240v during the install, but as soon as he got my email - UT OH.

He and I both lost some sleep over this. It happened right before Christmas, and due to the holidays, we waited until this last week to work on the RV. I did chat with a third party on the Escapees forum for an independent view. His conclusion was the same as ours. Fix any obvious damage, apply power and see what still works.

Fortunately, everything works! Well, except the microwave and the converter. A 40 amp re-settable fuse protected the 12 v system. The converter is what burned and caused the smoke. No wiring damage to be found. All other appliances and outlets OK. I still have not received the new converter. As soon at that is in and installed, along with the microwave, we will finish checking it out...generator, slide action, etc. But I really think we dodged a bullet. A $250 parts list after this incident is not bad.